


No matter what the Future brings

by sadieb798



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, And Peggy's Really Into That, Artist Steve Rogers, Bisexual Steve Rogers, Dating, Declarations Of Love, Especially not Steve Rogers, Established Relationship, F/M, Love, Married Life, Nobody tells Peggy Carter what to do, Not Canon Compliant, POV Alternating, Post-World War II, Vampire Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-28 04:06:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18748681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadieb798/pseuds/sadieb798
Summary: Steve and Peggy's seventy-five year relationship in the Fangbait universe.





	No matter what the Future brings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FestiveFerret](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FestiveFerret/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Fangbait](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15568557) by [FestiveFerret](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FestiveFerret/pseuds/FestiveFerret). 



> With thanks to ferret, who's blessing I got when I asked if I could play in her sandbox, and for her super support while reading over the thing. Time to kick this one out of the house and into the world.

“Well, that was quite a film,” Peggy says, walking leisurely at Steve’s side.

“Yeah, it was,” he agrees, raising a hand to rub the back of his neck, the collar of his shirt feeling tighter than it probably is with his nerves.

Peggy is silent next to him, her tantalizing red lips pinch in contemplation. She looks absolutely beautiful - not that she didn’t before while they were in the service, but she’s a knockout off the clock. She’s wearing a gorgeous deep burgundy dress with a matching belt and diamond buckle that hugs her curves, the skirt flaring out at her knees, showing off the smooth muscles of her legs.

Despite consulting the Howlies on what he should wear for their date, Steve still feels so underdressed standing next to her, it’s almost awkward.

 _It’s not so bad,_ he assures himself, but worries at his bottom lip with his teeth anyway. _The war’s over, and we picked up right where we left off when we came back to New York - except this is our tenth date and it’s been_ months _of going back and forth._

But there’s only so much they can do about it as a vampire and human couple, what with him going to night school to earn the art degree he put off getting, and Peggy with her unpredictable work schedule at the SSR.

 _Back in the European theater, there were perks to being in the army,_ he muses idly. Steve served and has since retired, and now not only can go back to art school on the GI bill, but he also has the luxury of being recognized by the government as a person instead of a blood-sucking animal. He didn’t have to worry about food, as the army took care of that for him, he was also a vampire and didn’t need to eat as often unlike the rest of the soldiers.

Steve flicks his eyes over at Peggy, drawn to the way the streetlights shine in the waves of her dark brown hair, his fingers itching for a pencil to capture the effect. _And I got to meet Peggy._

“I can’t stop thinking about Cary Grant _singing_ ,” Peggy huffs, out of the blue, releasing Steve from his stupor. He watches as a thoughtful crinkle appears between her eyebrows, and a frown starts on her face. “I realize he’s good-looking - and Lord knows I’ve noticed - but how can I find _that_ singing attractive?”

Steve can’t help the shrug, he has no words.

“But it was Cole Porter,” Peggy allows, except she doesn’t elaborate. Instead she falls silent again as they walk companionably through the dark city, just the two of them in their own bubble.

 _It’s so late,_ Steve realizes, _even by human standards, it’s late._ The normally busy street is clear of people, with only a few stragglers, and nothing but dim streetlights, but it’s no problem for Steve’s eyes. _Peggy’s probably missed her curfew. God, she’s gonna get such an earful from her landlady._ The thought makes his stomach twist up in knots. _It’s bad enough her entire building knows she’s stepping out with a vampire, she doesn’t need any more talk about her. It's not fair to her._

“Though there were points where it was a bit much, don’t you think?” she asks, casually, her curls falling forwards as she dips her head to look at the ground.

 _God, I’ve got to break up with Peggy,_ Steve concludes, turning cold inside just at the thought.

“Alright, what is it?” Peggy demands, whirling on her heel until she’s standing right in front of him: hands on her hips and her fiery intelligent eyes fixed on him. The sudden movement startles Steve out of his inner thoughts, and he stops short of bumping into her, instead her nose an inch from touching his chest. “You’ve been quiet throughout this entire date, and I would quite like to know what it is that has you in this state.”

Steve blinks at her, his mouth opening and closing repetitively. _I probably look like a fish_ , he thinks absurdly, and can feel it when sweat starts to prickle along his brow.

“I - I,” he finally tries, but no other sound comes out.

Peggy arches an eyebrow at him, waiting with pursed red lips. Steve gulps at the sight. _Not good!_ His brain shouts at him. _Definitely not good! Say something!! Anything!!!_

“I need to call things off,” he says in a rush. _You fucking idiot._

The words hang there in the nightair like a word bubble in a comic strip, and to make matters worse, the city seems to sense the awkwardness of Steve’s situation, and for a moment there’s only silence. No sirens, no honking, no sounds of life at all. Just silence.

Peggy blinks up at him, the shock clear on her face from the way her mouth’s fallen open slightly and her raised eyebrows.

Steve squeezes his eyes shut, praying for the ground to open up and swallow him whole.

 _Serves me right,_ he laments, _twenty-eight years old, never had a second date, now it’s a few years in of being a vampire, I manage to find the perfect girl, but she's human, and now I’ve got to break it off with her. If only Bucky were alive,_ the thought comes with a pang of sadness, but it’s not as sharp as it once was, and just as quick as it came, it subsides. _Buck could give me some pointers - he always let down the dames he went out with gently; making them feel great about themselves instead of like a heel._

With a deep breath of air he doesn’t need, Steve slowly opens his eyes. He’s expecting the first thing to see to be Peggy’s fist coming at his nose. But instead, she’s still staring at him with disbelief: her eyebrows crinkled, and her eyes blinking rapidly at him.

“I beg your pardon?” she asks, tilting her head to the side.

“I, I’ve got to stop seeing you, Peggy,” Steve says breathily, his shoulders climbing up to his ears in his nervousness. He takes a few steps back, putting some distance between them, even though every instinct in his body is screaming at him to get closer.

“Oh?” she asks, but it’s not accusatory; just curious. As if she’s asking him to back up his opinion on why he thinks the Dodgers played awful at their last game on Saturday. “May I ask why?”

“Peggy,” Steve pleads, glancing around the empty street. But there’s absolutely nothing to keep his attention, so he focuses his gaze on her face again. “You _know_ why.”

“No, I don’t believe I do,” Peggy drawls, her accent sharp as she crosses her arms over her chest. “Why don’t you explain it to me, Steve?”

 _Here goes,_ he can’t help thinking, as he takes a deep breath. He definitely doesn’t need the air, but habits die harder than people do - he knows that one from experience.

“We’re too different now, Peggy,” he tries, getting right to the point. “I don’t regret being turned, because it got me to you - ” the corner of her red lips twitch in amusement, and Steve knows if he were still human, he’d be as bright as a tomato right now. _That's definitely too much to admit for a tenth date,_ his anxiety points out, his insides wriggling around like fish in a bucket.

But, despite being immortal, the war proved that time is too precious to waste, and that he can’t mince words.

“And it’s been great,” he quickly assures. Steve flicks his eyes away from hers, can’t bare to look at her expression for what he’s got to say next. “But you can’t have a family with me. You’d either be a blood bag for life, or you'd become a vampire. Either way, you’d never have children, and you wouldn’t be able to have a career - and I know that’s what's important to you. You deserve better than me.”

Steve exhales, his breath shuddery, his shoulders sagging with the effort. If it were still beating, he’s sure his heart would be breaking. As it is, there’s a ache in his chest that he hasn’t felt since he lost Bucky and his Ma.

“Are you quite finished?” Peggy asks gently, after what feels like a lifetime of silence.

Steve blinks, his eyes glancing back up to see her still standing there, staring at him expectantly. “Yeah,” he admits, surprised that she hasn’t socked him in the jaw. _Yet._

“First of all, Steve,” Peggy starts, “you're a bloody idiot.”

Steve blinks again, thrown.

“You have no right to decide what I get to do with my life,” she tells him, point-blank. “My mother tried, and Hitler tried. They both failed miserably.” The corner of her lips twitches up into a teasing smile, and Steve can’t help it when he feels his own lips twitch back. “Second of all, I had every opportunity to settle down and start a family. In fact, before I left for the SOE, I was engaged to be married.”

This is news to Steve. Going by the way Peggy’s eyes glitter in pleasure, and her smile at him, it's gotta be written all over his face.

“Oh, yes,” she continues, coy. “Nice enough chap. Handsome enough, too. But he wasn’t what I was looking for in a partner.” Peggy drops her gaze, her smile dimming, and the glitter of humor in her eyes snuffs out. “My brother, Michael, knew that. I didn’t realize it until after he’d gone how right he was.”

They stand there, quiet for a minute. Peggy lost to the ghosts of her past, and Steve just trying to hold on to the present.

"So, what _are_ you looking for?" he can’t help asking, his body tense, preparing for any answer.

Steve watches as Peggy flicks her gaze up at him, the street light they’re under lighting up her eyes, and he wouldn’t be able to move even if he wanted to; she's got him frozen to the spot.

“You,” she replies, staring at him intensely.

That one little word packs such a punch, Steve feels like the world's stopped turning.

“Oh,” he says on an exhale, grateful again that he can’t blush anymore.

Peggy steps closer to him, Steve tracks her sultry movements as she shrinks that last inch between them. She raises the hand not holding onto her burgundy clutch and rests it on his arm, the warmth of it sending electricity crackling underneath his skin.

“Rogers, if you think you can get rid of me that easily,” Peggy’s brown eyes flash golden, and her red lips turn up into a challenging smirk, stealing the air from Steve’s lungs. But it’s fine, it’s more than fine: he doesn’t need to breathe anyway. “You’ve got another think coming.”

His heart beats in double-time; something it hasn’t done since he got turned. Steve has never felt so alive before.

When her lips meet his, the kiss is better than anything he ever could’ve imagined.

* * *

For their first year anniversary, Peggy gets him a new sketchbook. Steve gets her tickets to a movie - another Cary Grant picture called _The Bishop’s Wife._ From what he’s heard, it’s supposed to be good.

Feeling the wedding band on her ring finger as they walk hand-in-hand to the moviehouse, though, is the best gift of all.


End file.
